J. P. Arnot

Paul Arnot

(16 September 1887 - 2 December 1951, USA)

Helpful Henry

J.P. Arnot was the artist of several newspaper features in the 1910s and 1920s. Born in Alpine County, he joined the art department of the San Francisco Chronicle in 1913. Two years later, he joined King Features Syndicate in New York City, where he worked for the next 17 years. He is the creator of features like 'Old Doc Gayboy' (1913-1914), 'And So It Goes' (1916), 'Sinned-Against Samuel' (1916), 'Miss Pippin' (1917), 'That Squares It' (1918-1919), 'The Little General' (1919), 'How Do They Do It' (1916-1929) and 'Helpful Henry' (1925-1926). Oliver Hardy stated in several interviews that the character 'Helpful Henry' inspired him for his character Ollie. Returning to San Francisco, he was department head at Eastman Kodak for the rest of his career. Arnot's 'Helpful Henry' should not be confused with the similarly titled 1938 British gag-a-week comic by Eric Roberts, which ran in The Beano until 1939. This version was in 1969 revived by Hugh Morren.